Just like to say, i follwed this repair thread after experiencing no gears or drive when slowing down for traffic lights or roundabouts.( i have a 53 plate 65000 mile fusion 1.4 petrol) i found a tight bush once i removed the actuator shaft, once the bush was reamed out and the shaft polished i reassembled with grease and now the car performs perfectly.

Since servicing the car at dealer the car has began to shudder and stall on morning start up and stalling altogether. The dealer had serviced the car changing the engine and brake fluid oil and provided a check up.

However, yesterday the car stalled with a loud thump noise when I was reversing. It would not drive forwards either. When put in reverse it makes a loud grinding noise as if the it's not in the right gear repeatedly.

Occasionally the transmission light comes up and then disappears. As dealer engineers are closed I called a local mechanic and they investigated and found a low level of brake/transmission fluid level, but to my horror a leak from a pipe, which they said should have been picked up by EAG.

Any idea's what kind of damage has caused to the car and what checks I can do. Obviously with the leak I am not going to drive it, basically the car doesn't move.

Lasse1955, you are an absloute legend my friend.
My wife's got a 2003 Fiesta 1.4 with Durashift box. Since I have stopped using my bike this has been my only vehicle for doing my 60 mile a day commute so is important to me. We have always had a few issues with this particulat gearbox since we bought it second hand in 2007, missing gears, hesitation in selecting gears and an annoying judder when pulling away.
Well, 2 weeks ago things got worse. Pulling up at junctions still in 5th gear, taking ages to fing neutral, real long hesitation between 2nd and 3rd gear and juddering worse than ever. I spoke to a mechanic friend of mine who suggested undoing the electrical plugs and cleaning them out with WD-40, I was sceptical because it definitely sounded mechanical. I could not believe it,... it worked, well for about 200 miles until on Wednesday morning, the coldest day of the year at 6 am going to work. I pulled out from the bottom of my road, went from 1st to 2nd no problem, 2nd to 3rd NO WAY! Pulled over and that was that, no gears, no neutral, no engine, would even turn over. I ended up having to be towed home and spent the day researching.
Then I came across this forum and it started to make sense and so using Lasse1955's post me and my mate Wilsky (mainly Wilsky) tackled the problem.
Now I am in no way a mechanic but I have to say that this was easy. It took us in total about 2 hours including tea breaks and popping in to watch the football.
On my car the larger of the 2 spindles were absolutely jammed solid and took a bit of work freeing it up. Once it was out we got some 15mm copper tube and attatched some fine sandpaper to it and went about boring out the cyclinder until the spinlde moved freely up and down. Put it all back together and took it for a spin. I am not exagerating when I say that it drives better than when we bought it and the judder has gone aswell, for now anyway.
So sorry for the essay but I felt I needed to share and say a big thanks to Lasse1955, there are more than a few beers waiting here for you mate. Greetings from UK.
If anyone wants more info on how to do this then just ask. I'll be more than happy to help. I should have taken more photos I know.

hi there i was reading this post and have all of the above probs no display on dash just 2 little lines appear for a few seconds then nothing wont start
i took the starter relay out and bypassed it got the car started but no gears so hhopefully this fix will do it cant try till weekend but just wanted to know
is all the work done over the bonnet or from underneath also what else has to be dismantled to get at the motors
thanks

rich.d81, Mogger and many others:It really makes a boost to my life to read the stories you write, and collect the happiness within. I sure am glad my thread being helpful.I also feel good about the fact that many of you added some tip and make some better explanations than me. I just wish I had taken more photos.

leccy:Most of the work, to remove the actuator from the car, is done from underneath. If I remember right, a bolt (or two) that fastens the actuator by the gear box is better released over the bonnet ( but I really don’t remember exactly, as it is two years since I did this, but you sure find it out when you start working).

hi...have done everything as above,car worked for about 2miles as soon as i pulled in to drive-way engine cut out ..and will not start or show which gear car is in as nothing shows on dash..any help would be great ...tks

ok need some advice i took the gesr shift actuator out there it moves freely.....seems to be fine. I put it back in and all was still the same. i noticed that the thing that was stopping the gears selecting is actually the little gear selector arm that clips into the plastic ball joint of the actuator rod. I disconnected the ball joint and the whole actuator mechanism seems to actually work it moves up and down as it should looking for the gears.

Could this be the clutch or gears that are the problem rather than the actuators.

Yesterday my daughters car broke down 180 miles from home with three of us in it. The RAC came out and bless the chap, he spent 2 hours trying to repair it. The problem was that it would jam out of gear so not able to start. In the end the car was recovered to my home and they gave us a new VW to use as we have onward travel cover (Fantastic cover from RAC and only £55 cover for two people using Tesco Club and points).

Car was returned to our home this morning and the same thing that you reported was wrong. Took 1 1/4 hours to remove it, repair and refit as you post says... A very easy job... I removed the headlight (three screws and a connector) and access was great. Didn't even need to jack the car up.

Thanks very much.for this info.i looked on fords website 15 june.and a actuator was £543.41 plus vat.for my fiesta.i have dabbled with motors over the years.so i gave it a go.pleased to say your wise words.worked a treat.thank you.from almost sunny basildon.essex.uk

I have read with interest and like you said What have i got to lose so i am going to have a go at it this weekend.Just one thing and i hope i don't sound stupid.Did you grease or oil the slider when you reassembled the unit.

I'm a belgian owner of a 2004 ford fusion + with a durashift transmission, as the car has some simular problems regarding to not wanting to shift in gear and gear position indicator is going blank, i've been reading about the fixes over here.

I've taken out the gear shift actuators as these can cause problems but the are not stuck, the plastic bushing was clean and the axle moved freely within.

then i have opened op the electric motors to see if there was any problems, but the only thing i've found was dust from the brushes, witch i've cleaned out using compressed air.

There is indeed a smal electronic board in it, also covered in dust.

But this did not fixed the problem.

At the same time i have opened up the complete wiring loom, checked it visualy and measured it out, but no corrosion or faults found.

After these fixes i've put al the pieces back into the car and tried it out, no luck.

Then i've taken out the clutch actuator, witch was not an easy task, and opened up the electric motor. the motor was covered in dust the carbon brushes, and after inspecting the rotor, i saw that the brushes are complete gone on one side, and not touching the rotor anymore.

Does anyone know if there are replacement sets for these brushes for sale somewhere? Or does anybody knows where i can get this fixed? As i'm not sure that the rebuilders that you can find on the www are rebuilding the motors too, it seems that these are electronic repair techs.